No self-respecting rock 'n' roll band would ever want to be known
as "precious" and "impossibly cute," but how
else can one describe Belle and Sebastian, Stuart Murdoch’s aggressively sunny
school project-turned-indie sensation? On their seventh studio effort, The
Life Pursuit, the Scottish septet rolls up
their collective sleeves and gets dirty, cloaking fiery missives like “White
Collar Boy” in bright, irrepressible melodies with a decidedly retro glam-rock
flare. Elsewhere, they hop genres with ease: “Song for Sunshine” is,
incredibly, a convincing slice of exuberant ’70s soul, while “Sukie in the
Graveyard” is transcendent pop, the kind that made Belle and Sebastian an
overnight sensation after the 1996 release of Tigermilk. True to form, they’re cute, they’re precious, and –
here’s the catch – they’re absolutely delectable.